2:00 AM,
Feb. 15, 2009

Writer Patrick Brian Miller stands in front of Wetumpka's First Presbyterian Church, built in the 1850s. The church is alluded to in one of his stories.

Written by

Ever since he was a child, writer Patrick Brian Miller of Holtville has been moved by historic sites in Alabama, some well-known, others that time has left behind.

The short stories Miller writes reflect that longtime fascination. There are haunting images of ghost towns, hollowed-out factor­ies and steeples of central Alabama churches more than a century and a half old.

"The Last Confession," an eerie but moving tale of van­ity and redemption, is set in these landscapes. In it, an ar­rogant priest is assigned to a new parish -- the seemingly abandoned town of Phoenix, Ala. ...